First, you have to love the joys of Brazilian music to get hooked on this album by mandolinist Danilo Brito and guitarist Joao Luiz. That’s an easy task, right? Next, you have to just sit down, SIT DOWN, and take…
Month: May 2022
TRIOS…Armen Donelian: Fresh Start, Hal Galper Trio: Invitation To Openness, The Howard Britz Trio: Comfort and Joy
Good things come in threes… Composer and pianist Armen Donelian leads his trio of Jay Anderson/b and Dennis Mackrel/dr through a mix of reflective and romantic originals. He even sings a bit on the seductive “I’m Stepping Out With A…
LADY VOICES…Catherine Russell: Send For Me, Hinda Hoffman Meets Soul Message: People
It’s not what you say, but how you say it… Catherine Russell has an easy to please delivery to her voice, bathed in early swing yet comfortable in modern sartorial styles. Here, backed by Matt Munisteri/g-dir, Tal Ronen/b, Mark McLean/dr,…
Eubanks Evans Experience: EEE
Guitarist Kevin Eubanks teams up with pianist Orrin Evans for a clever collection of duets, mixing conversations with lyricism. Eubanks’ guitar is in particularly sinewy form, tensile while jamming the blues on “Novice Bounce” and funky on “I Don’t Know”.…
BLUE GUITARS…Stew Cutler: The Blues From Another Angle (with guests Mike Stern and James Montgomery), Albert Castiglia: I Got Love
If you’re a six string’d blues breaker, just wait until you get a load of this album by ax man Ste Cutler. He plays and sings a bit with some soul, but usually employs others for the mic work. Meanwhile,…
IT’S SHOW TIME! Billy Stritch and Jim Caruso: The Sunday Set, Spencer Day: Broadway By Day
You have to know how to work a room. Here are two gents that celebrate the show, or deliver the goods in concert. Taking a trip back in time when musicians mingled with the audience in the Catkills, pianist/vocalist Billy…
GRDINA’S GUITAR FORMS…Gordon Grdina’s Haram with Marc Ribot: Night’s Quietest Hour, Gordon Grdina: The Music of Tim Berne-Oddly Enough
One of the more prolific of today’s guitarist is Gordon Grdina. It seems that as soon as I’ve reviewed one of his albums, one or two new ones pop out. How do we keep up with this guy? Here are…
TRIO TIMES…Dan Carillo & Common Goodand : Witness, The Adam Larson Trio: With Love, From Chicago
Like the Trinity, good things come in threes… Guitarist Dan Carillo teams up with bassist Andrew Bergmann and drummer Aaron Walker to create musical messages reflecting his thoughts on today’s current events. The tunes hold up well without watching Fox…
WOMEN VOICES…Marsha Bartenetti: Sings McNeely & Kahns, Jo Harrop: The Heart Wants
The weaker sex, the speaker sex… Marsha Bartenetti brings together some of LA’s finest sidemen in Ray Brinker/dr, Mike Watts/p, Trey Henry/b and a mix and match of sax and strings in this collection of tunes composed by Alice Kuhns…
Just A Season: Reason to Go Home
Home spun Americana is produced by Scott Smith, who plays guitars, banjo and harmonica as he sings with Ashley Grant and is supported by John Sponarski/g, Brad Ferguson-Erik Nielsen-Jeremy Holmes/b, Liam Macdonald-Leon Power/dr, Matt Kelly/key, Meredith Bates/vi and Peggy Lee/cel.…